Man who sued neighbor over Wi-Fi won't pay court fees

The Santa Fe woman who was sued because her neighbor said the electromagnetic pulses from her computer made him sick must pay thousands in legal fees even though she won the case.

Arthur Firstenberg said it's enough punishment he lost the case. He says he's suffered by having to live near Raphaela Monribot and he shouldn't also have to pay her court costs. A judge in Santa Fe agreed, saying Firstenberg can't afford the nearly $85,000 it cost two people to defend themselves in court, for things like expert witnesses.

Firstenberg sued his neighbor, Monribot, who was renting a home adjacent to his. In the suit, Firstenberg claimed Monribot's computer, cellphone and other electronic devices caused him great harm by hurting his health. He said he suffered from everything from headaches to heart complications as a result of the electromagnetic currents.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying there wasn't enough evidence to move forward to trial.

"The case was really about the science and whether there is scientific evidence to show these symptoms are associated with electromagnetic fields. And the answer was clear to the judge. There are not," explains Monribot's attorney, Christopher Graeser. "She was using electronics that everybody had in their house. Our client did nothing wrong."

Now, Firstenberg is appealing and that means more legal fees and court costs for Monribot. For example, Monribot's attorney says the appeal is 6,000 pages and cost $2,400 to copy from the court.

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